I noticed my Dark Eyes has formed buds in the leaf axils this fall. Is this normal? I received the root last fall and planted it. Got some growth this past season (although a lot of leaf spot). I'm assuming there are good eyes forming below ground right now and it should be fine next spring.

Our database says Dark Eyes is both Itoh and intersectional, although I thought these were different types of hybrids. Warmerdam, where I bought Dark Eyes, says it is an intersectional, but with seed parent most likely P. lactiflora 'Mikado' and pollen parent P. delavayi.

I'm wondering if hybrids normally put on buds like this in fall. Or if you have any other thoughts you'd like to share. Pictures of the buds are below. The bud in the 2nd image is attached to the stem right at the ground line.

Itoh ;and intersectional are the same thing. Hybrid is a type of herbaceous peony. Yes, it is common for intersectionals to have buds in the leaf axils.

Hi Laurie. Good observation. It depends on your take on the verbiage, but in my books Itoh refers to a plant produced by a lactiflora x woody peony cross whereas intersectional is a broader term that involves a group other than the lactifloras being crossed with a woody peony (herbaceous hybrid e.g. Lemon Chiffon x woody peony).

Peony 'Eurasia' (not registered) would be an example of an intersectional but NOT an Itoh which was produced by P. officinalis x P. rockii. A crazy cross!

Herbaceous hybrids are herbaceous plants that have more than one species in their ancestry.

Itohs do indeed form axillary buds which is a product of their woody peony ancestry. In growing zones warmer than mine these buds can overwinter and produce growth. I have seen this once on a herbaceous hybrid, but think it was a weird chance occurrence. I have never seen it otherwise.

Interestingly enough, axillary buds on Itohs can be used to propagate them through micropropagation. Bob Johnson has said that when he was working at Caprice Nursery they would see rooting from stems and resulting growth from these buds when they cut the stems up and wrapped them in damp paper towel or newspaper.

Thank you Gary and Nick. I found an article by American Peony Society that makes the same distinction between itoh and intersectional, (i.e. a woody crossed with lactiflora vs another herbaceous). But it also says there are very few examples of intersectional peonies, so I can see how they might be lumped together with either name applied.

I must be using the term "hybrid" incorrectly. To me that means any cross between two different species, but in the peony world it apparently refers to crosses of only herbaceous peonies. Thanks for the explanation.

Since the buds might survive the winter, maybe I'll just remove the leafy portion and leave the stems--although the stems are not very woody. Might try the bud propagation some time, too.

You're right in using hybrid by definition, Laurie. The way Nick and Gary use it is the common way it's bandied about in "Peony Land", possibly used the same or slightly differently in other plant groups. It's generally used to denote a cross between different species within a genus, like herbaceous hybrid and Lutea hybrid.

"Interestingly enough, axillary buds on Itohs can be used to propagate them through micropropagation. Bob Johnson has said that when he was working at Caprice Nursery they would see rooting from stems and resulting growth from these buds when they cut the stems up and wrapped them in damp paper towel or newspaper."

That's very interesting, Nick. I do get growth from these buds on Itohs now that I'm growing in zone 8a but might have to experiment with a few next year.